Boss keeps hinting at promotion but its been 10 months and nothing, do I bring it up or just start looking elsewhere?
I've been at this tech startup for almost 3 years now and my boss has been dropping hints about promoting me to senior product manager since like February. Every 1 on 1 its "we're working on getting you that senior title" or "just need to get approval from the exec team" but literally nothing has happened and we're almost in December now.
The frustrating part is I've already been doing senior level work for months. I'm leading cross functional projects, mentoring two junior PMs, and basically running our entire product roadmap for the mobile app. My friend who works at a similar company told me I should just start interviewing because this is a classic stalling tactic but I actually like my team and the work itself.
I have some money set aside so Im not desperate or anything but it feels disrespectful at this point? Like either promote me or be honest that its not happening. I dont know if I should have another conversation with my boss about it or if that makes me look pushy. Part of me thinks maybe they're waiting until Q1 for budget reasons but another part of me is like why would they keep bringing it up if thats the case.
Jobadvisor
That sounds incredibly frustrating. You are right; after 10 months of hints and performing senior-level work, it's completely reasonable to feel disrespected and look for clarity. This situation is very common in fast-moving environments like startups.
Here is a structured approach to help you decide your next steps.
🧠Analyzing Your Situation
| Pro-Promotion (Stay) | Con-Promotion (Leave) |
| You like your team and the work. This is a huge factor for long-term satisfaction. | 10 months of stalling. Hints without action strongly suggest low priority or systemic issues. |
| You already have a senior-level portfolio. This will make any job search easier. | Disrespectful behavior. The lack of honesty/follow-through erodes trust. |
| Potential Q1 budget reasons. If true, clarity could resolve the issue quickly. | You're being underpaid for your work. Doing senior work without the title/pay is costly. |
| You are not desperate. You have the financial cushion to negotiate confidently. | Risk of endless waiting. Without a firm deadline, they may keep delaying. |
🎯 Recommended Strategy: The Two-Step Approach
I strongly recommend you have one final, direct conversation with your boss before you decide to look elsewhere. This ensures you've exhausted internal options and gives your boss a final chance to deliver.
Step 1: The Direct Conversation (The Ultimatum)
Schedule a dedicated 1-on-1, and be prepared. You need to be firm, factual, and focused on a timeline, not just a promise.
1. Frame it Positively
Start by reaffirming your commitment and success:
"Boss, I enjoy my role here and I'm proud of the work I've done this year—specifically leading the mobile app roadmap and mentoring the junior PMs. As we discussed, this level of work is aligned with a Senior Product Manager role."
2. Introduce the Facts and the Timeline
Be direct about the delay without being accusatory:
"We first discussed moving into the Senior PM role back in February, and it has been brought up in nearly every 1-on-1 since. Since I've been operating at that level for months now, I need to understand the specific, immediate blocker to the title and compensation change."
3. Ask for a Firm Commitment
This is the most critical part. Ask for a specific date, not another vague promise.
"To plan my career and future here, I need a definitive answer. Can you tell me exactly what date the promotion will be approved and effective? For example, is it going to be on January 1st for the start of Q1?"
4. The Response Window
If the answer is still vague ("early Q1," "next month," "still waiting on execs"), you can gently introduce your boundary:
"I understand there are corporate hurdles. Given the long delay, if we can't finalize the promotion with a clear start date within the next 30 days [or specify your own firm date, e.g., before the holiday break], I will need to start exploring external opportunities that align with my current experience level."
Step 2: Immediate Preparation (Get Ready to Move)
Whether your boss gives you a solid date or not, your friend is correct that preparing to interview is a smart and non-committal move.
Update Your Resume: Use your current activities (leading projects, mentoring, running the roadmap) to craft a "Senior Product Manager" resume. Use metrics: "Increased [Metric] by [X%]" or "Reduced [Time] by [Y hours]."
Talk to Your Friend: Get leads, understand compensation bands, and get an internal referral at their similar company.
Set Up Alerts: Create job alerts for "Senior Product Manager" at similar companies.
Why do this even if they give you a date? Because if the firm date comes and goes without the promotion, you've lost valuable time. By preparing now, you take control and can immediately execute a job search if they fail to deliver.
💡 Conclusion
You don't look pushy; you look like a Senior Product Manager advocating for their career. You have earned the right to ask for a definitive timeline.
Have the direct conversation. If they give you a solid, specific date that you find acceptable, stay. If they give you another vague answer, or if that solid date passes without action, it's time to start interviewing. Respect yourself and your work enough to be paid fairly for the role you are already performing.
What are my options?
I’m 28 years old with no college degree. I currently work at a used car dealership on the production side. I make about 70-75k a year. I worked in multiple management roles and currently still a manager. I don’t hate my job and I am good at it, the benefits are great, pay is decent, and I get a car to drive everyday without having to pay for insurance/car note, but I am getting burnt out and I don’t think it is worth 70k. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Go for a promotion? Go back to school? Apply for a different job, if so what kind of jobs?
Jobadvisor
That's a very clear position to be in. You've achieved a great income for your age and background, have valuable management experience, and excellent benefits, but you've hit a wall with burnout. You're smart to look at options now before the burnout completely overwhelms you.
If I were in your shoes, I would break down the decision into three main options, each with a different timeline and risk profile.
🧠Option 1: Pursue an Internal Promotion (The "Fix the Burnout" Path)
Since you are good at your job and like the benefits, the goal here is to raise the value you get for the effort you put in.
Why this option?
Leverage: You already have management experience and a track record of success at the dealership.
Highest Reward for Lowest Effort: The fastest way to a significant pay bump ($85k-$100k) and/or better work-life balance is often through an existing employer.
Action Plan
Analyze the Burnout: Is it due to too many hours, toxic people, or unrewarding tasks?
Target the Promotion: Don't just ask for a title change; ask for a change that addresses the burnout.
If it's too many hours: Ask for a Director/Senior Manager role where you delegate more tasks and focus on strategic oversight, potentially reducing your direct production involvement.
If it's unrewarding tasks: Ask for a role focusing on an area you enjoy (e.g., Dealership Operations Improvement or Fleet Management), using your production knowledge in a more analytical way.
Negotiate: Use your current excellent benefits (car/insurance/note) as a baseline. For a promotion, aim for a substantial increase that makes the current stress "worth it" (e.g., aiming for $85k - $100k).
🎓 Option 2: Go Back to School (The "Long-Term Investment" Path)
At 28, you are in a prime position to pursue a degree while leveraging your existing work experience. A degree acts as a credential to unlock higher-tier corporate jobs.
Why this option?
Breaks the Ceiling: Your experience gets you a good job; a degree plus experience gets you a great job, especially outside of the automotive production industry.
Management Credit: You can potentially test out of, or receive credit for, lower-level management courses based on your work history (Portfolio of Prior Learning).
The Best Time: It only gets harder to go back as you get older.
Action Plan
Start Part-Time: Look for fully online programs in relevant fields like Business Administration, Operations Management, or Supply Chain. You can often take 1-2 classes a semester while you continue working.
Look for Employer Support: Ask your HR department if they offer tuition reimbursement. This is a huge benefit and could make your degree almost free.
Target the Field: Your experience in production and management is highly transferable to Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Operations, or Project Management in any industry (e.g., manufacturing, e-commerce, third-party logistics).
💼 Option 3: Apply for Different Jobs (The "Immediate Change" Path)
If the burnout is severe and you need an immediate change of environment, your current experience is incredibly valuable for several roles that pay similarly or better, often with a better work/life balance.
What Kind of Jobs?
Your strengths are Operations, Process Flow, Management, and Cost Control.
| Role | Industry | Typical Pay (for your experience) | How it Uses Your Skills |
| Logistics/Warehouse Manager | E-commerce, 3PL, Retail | $70k - $95k | You manage the "production" (flow of goods/cars) and people. Highly relevant. |
| Service/Operations Manager | Auto Repair Chains, Fleet Services | $70k - $90k | Direct management of technicians, scheduling, inventory, and customer flow. |
| Project Coordinator / Manager | Construction, Manufacturing, Tech | $65k - $85k | Managing a project (like prepping a car for sale) is managing scope, schedule, and budget. This is very transferable. |
| Outside Sales Representative | Industrial Equipment, Auto Parts | $50k base + high commission ($80k - $120k OTE) | You understand the product, the process, and managing customer expectations—excellent for business-to-business (B2B) sales. |
Immediate Action
Update Your Resume: Translate your dealership language into corporate language.
Instead of: "Manage car prep line"
Use: "Oversaw production operations for $XM in annual inventory, ensuring timely process flow and adherence to quality standards."
Target the Salary: Do NOT settle for a significant pay cut without a massive benefit (like a 4-day week or fully remote work). Use your current $70k as your floor for negotiations.
My Recommendation
I would pursue Option 1 and Option 3 simultaneously, with Option 2 as a slow, background project.
This Week: Schedule the direct conversation with your boss (Option 1). State clearly that you love the work but need a role/pay adjustment to make the stress worth it. Ask for a plan for a promotion in the next 90 days.
This Month: Start revising your resume and quietly applying for 2-3 Project Coordinator and Logistics/Operations Manager roles (Option 3). This is your backup plan and gives you leverage if your boss fails to deliver.
Ongoing: Research online B.S. programs in Operations Management (Option 2) and investigate tuition reimbursement. This is your long-term ticket to potentially breaking the $100k wall.
You have leverage, valuable experience, and a decent income. Use all three to your advantage!
Your experience with unlimited PTO?
Moving from a company that had a generous amount of fixed time each year that everyone took to a tech company with “unlimited pto” do people actually utilize this? Is it a scam?
Jobadvisor
That's a very common question, and you've hit on the core of the debate surrounding "unlimited PTO." The short answer is: it can be a great perk, but it often operates with an unspoken limit, and whether it's a good deal for you depends heavily on the company's culture.
Here's a breakdown of the common experiences and why it's sometimes viewed as a "scam":
⚖️ Is "Unlimited PTO" a Scam? The Two Sides
| The "Scam" Side (Why it might be worse) | The "Perk" Side (Why it can be great) |
| No Payout: The primary financial benefit for the company is that you don't accrue time off. If you leave, there is nothing to pay out, unlike traditional PTO policies where unused days are often treated as earned wages. This is the biggest tangible loss for an employee. | True Flexibility: When you need a day for an appointment, sick child, or a long weekend, you can often take it without worrying about "saving" your allotted days. This is great for managing unexpected life events. |
| Guilt & Underutilization: Because there's no defined limit, employees often feel pressure or guilt about taking "too much" time off. Studies have historically shown that, on average, employees with unlimited PTO policies often take fewer days than those with a fixed, generous allotment. | Attracts Talent: It signals a trust-based culture where the focus is on results and performance rather than hours logged. It's a powerful recruiting tool. |
| Ambiguity: Without a set number, you have to guess what's "acceptable." This ambiguity can create anxiety—is 3 weeks okay? 4? 6? This depends entirely on your manager and team. | No "Use-It-or-Lose-It" Stress: You don't have the end-of-year rush of people trying to burn their remaining days, which can be disruptive to business. |
| Manager Dependency: Your ability to take time off is entirely at the discretion of your manager, and their approval may be more subjective than with a fixed policy. | Easy Administration: For the company, it eliminates the administrative headache of tracking accruals, rollovers, and payouts. |
💡 What You Can Expect & How to Utilize It
Moving from a fixed, generous policy to unlimited PTO is a big shift. Here is how people generally utilize it:
1. Do People Actually Take It?
It's highly culture-dependent. In some companies, it's genuinely encouraged, and people take 4-6 weeks off. In others, the unspoken rule is that taking more than 2-3 weeks in a year is frowned upon.
The Average: While data varies, many employees under unlimited policies tend to take around 12-16 days of vacation per year, which can be less than a generous traditional policy (like your previous one).
1
2. How to Make it Work for You in a New Company:
Ask the Right Questions: Before you accept, or in your first few weeks, try to get a sense of the actual culture. Ask your future manager or peers:
"What is the average number of vacation days people on the team typically take in a year?"
"Do most people take one long vacation (e.g., two consecutive weeks) or spread their time out?"
"Is there an expectation for a minimum amount of time off?" (Some progressive companies have started setting a minimum to combat underutilization.)
Watch Leadership: Observe how often and for how long senior leaders and your direct manager take time off. They set the standard. If your manager models good PTO use, you'll feel much more comfortable.
Plan and Communicate: Just like with fixed PTO, book your time well in advance, ensure your work is covered, and always get manager approval. When using it, set clear out-of-office boundaries.
In summary: If your old company offered a very generous fixed amount, you were guaranteed a valuable, quantifiable benefit that you could cash out. Unlimited PTO is a benefit with a potentially higher ceiling but a lower floor, where the real value is determined by the culture and your own comfort level in utilizing it.
Company fired team member and myself for “poor performance”. What actually happened?
I was recently let go along with some coworkers, and the company classified it as a “performance-related termination.” The weird part is that none of us were ever told we were doing a bad job. No warnings, no coaching, no write-ups, no PIPs — nothing. It came completely out of nowhere.
What makes it even more confusing is that the company just posted a job listing for the same position I had. The responsibilities look almost identical.
From what I can tell, this wasn’t a true performance firing. It seems more like the company restructured the role, wanted to lower the salary band, or shift responsibilities, so they eliminated our positions and are now rehiring a modified version of the job. HR just labeled it as “performance” because it’s easier for them legally or financially than calling it a layoff.
Has anyone else had this happen? Is this a common corporate tactic?
For context I was in an Account Management Sales role and grew my accounts 26% this year. The other people and myself were on the newer side and had “smaller customers”. My boss would only call/talk to me once a month. All feedback I received was positive
I was on track to earn 30k more than our OTE of 120k and thought I was killing it
Jobadvisor
That is an incredibly frustrating and confusing situation, especially when your performance metrics were clearly excellent. Yes, what you experienced is a very common corporate tactic, and your assessment is likely correct.
When a company labels a termination as "poor performance" without any prior documentation or performance improvement plans (PIPs), but simultaneously posts a similar job opening, it is highly probable that the termination was, in effect, a "silent layoff" or a "restructuring" designed to save money or simplify HR processes.
📈 What Likely Happened
Based on your context (Account Management/Sales role, newer team members, smaller customers, high performance, and sudden termination), here are the most probable scenarios:
1. Cost Reduction (The Most Likely Reason)
Salary Band Reduction: You were on track to significantly exceed your On-Target Earnings (OTE) of $120k, potentially earning $150k. By firing you and then hiring a new person (likely someone less experienced, or fresh out of a training program) for the same role, the company can reset the salary and commission expectations, potentially saving $30k+ on your comp package.
Commission Spends: Your high commission payouts, while a sign of excellent performance, are an expense the company's finance department may view as excessive. By replacing top performers with new employees, the company temporarily lowers its overall commission liability.
"Last In, First Out" Disguise: While you were performing well, you mention you and your fired coworkers were "on the newer side" and had "smaller customers." When budget cuts are made, companies often target the newer/lower seniority employees first because they have less institutional tenure, and their firing carries less political risk within the company.
2. The "Eliminate and Rehire" Tactic
Restructuring Disguised as Performance: The company wanted to make a change to the role—maybe combine the Account Management duties with new business development, or shift the account assignments—but didn't want to deal with the severance cost or legal exposure of an official "layoff" or "Reduction in Force" (RIF).
The Re-Posted Job: The new job posting is for a slightly different position (e.g., "Account Manager I" vs. your "Account Manager II," or just a new job description with slightly modified duties). By claiming you were fired for "performance," the company can assert that they eliminated your specific role (which you performed poorly, according to them) and are hiring for a different role, even if the day-to-day work is 90% the same.
3. Managerial/Organizational Failure
Lack of Documentation: The fact that you received no warnings or PIPs strongly suggests this was not a genuine performance firing. True performance terminations require months of documentation to protect the company legally. Your boss's infrequent communication ("once a month") suggests a lack of active management, making it impossible for them to claim a documented performance failure.
🛡️ Why HR Uses "Poor Performance"
Your hunch about the legal and financial reasons is spot-on. HR labels these situations as "performance-related" for several key reasons:
No Severance Obligation: In many jurisdictions, layoffs (RIFs) or position eliminations typically come with a severance package. Terminations for "poor performance" often do not. By using this label, they can avoid paying severance.
Unemployment Insurance: While you are still eligible for unemployment (and should apply immediately), companies often attempt to contest claims for performance-related firings, whereas they typically don't contest true layoffs.
Avoiding WARN Act Issues: For large layoffs, the U.S. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires companies to give 60 days' notice.
1 Firing a small group for "performance" allows them to skirt this regulation.Morale Control: It is easier on the remaining employees' morale to say a few individuals were let go for their specific performance issues rather than admitting to organizational budget cuts or large-scale restructuring.
In short, your success was likely the catalyst for their cost-saving maneuver, not the cause of your termination. You were a high-performing employee in a vulnerable position (new to the team, managing smaller accounts), and the company chose to eliminate a position where they projected a large expense (your high commission earnings) and replace it with a lower-cost alternative.
Next Step: It's important to file for unemployment immediately and prepare to counter the company's "poor performance" claim if they contest it.